Terry McHugh and Sinead Delahunty, two of the enduring members of the Irish athletics team in modern years, may lose out when the squad for next month's World Championships in Seville is named today.

McHugh embellished a remarkable record by winning the National javelin championship for a 16th consecutive year last Sunday but still fell more than three metres short of a B qualifying standard with a best throw of 74.24 metres.

Delahunty has achieved B figures for the women's 1,500 metres championship, but almost certainly that nomination will now go to emerging Waterford athlete Elaine Fitzgerald who finished in front of her at the weekend.

The omission of either athlete, would mark the end of an era, particularly in the case of McHugh who has been a member of every squad for a major championship since 1987. In that time, he competed in three Olympic Games and two Winter Olympics, making him one of the most experienced Olympians of them all.

Delahunty, a fine international competitor at her best, suffered from being caught up in the slipstream of Sonia O'Sullivan but still contrived to produce some excellent performances under pressure.

Now Fitzgerald is primed to take her place and that is no more than just reward for her progress since returning from the United States to align herself with the Ballymena husband and wife coaching team of Sean and Maeve Kyle.

All the expectations are that the squad for Seville will be unusually big with Susan Smith, Nick Sweeney, Peter Coghlan and Brendan Reilly among the 12 athletes who qualify automatically, after attaining A standards.

Also included in this category are Gary Ryan and Peter Brizzell, re-assuring evidence of the improving quality of Irish sprinters. As yet, however, the plans of the American-based Cork man, Mark Carroll remain unclear.

Carroll, a bronze medallist in the European 5,000 metres championship at Budapest last season, has B marks for both the 1,500 and 5,000 metres for Seville. There is a school of thought which suggests that he will decide to concentrate on the longer distance and, in that eventuality, it could provide athletes like Niall Bruton, Brian Treacy and Daniel Caulfield with additional incentives in the coming two weeks.

Of this trio, only Treacy currently holds a B standard for the 1,500 metres and despite being relegated to fourth place in the National championship, he is hopeful of substantial improvement when he competes at Barcelona later in the week.

Paul McBurney, a fluent winner of the 400 metres title at Santry, is a probable member of the squad and despite the loss of Tom McGuirk and Thomas Coman, there is still a possibility that the selectors will name a 4 x 400 metres relay team.

Ciaran McDonagh, who saw the first eight-metre long jump by an Irishman invalidated by the wind gauge last Saturday, is to be offered an opportunity of qualifying when he travels with an Irish selection to Tallinn, Estonia, next Sunday.

The name of James Nolan, the UCD 800 metres athlete, was conspicuous by its absence when the team to compete in the European Under-23 championships at Gothenburg next weekend was named yesterday.

Nolan, whose name was one of the first down on paper when the selectors held a preliminary meeting earlier in the month, was omitted after pulling out of the national championship final with a muscular injury.

In the absence of a fitness clearance, he will not travel with the main party when the team leaves for Gothenburg this morning but it is understood that he may yet be invited to travel if he proves his recovery in a test.

Ironically, Gareth Turnbull, who profited from Nolan's withdrawal to win the 800 metres title at Santry, has been nominated for the 1,500 metres in Sweden and there is also recognition for fellow Ulster man, Paul McKee in the 400 metres event.